


Complicated

by eugene25holmes



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-13 06:23:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21239618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eugene25holmes/pseuds/eugene25holmes
Summary: Here's the second chapter of Complicated series! I hope you like it ^_^ and if you would like to read more, I have posted further chapters on my blog @i-burnt-the-pages on Tumblr.





	1. Welcome to Baker Street

The tall man walked down the street, his coat swishing behind him. His face braving the cold winds and his gloved hands stuffed in his pocket. He gave out a sigh of annoyance once or twice at least per minute but continued to walk nonetheless.  
When he looked at others, he saw the futility of everyone’s life, even his own at times. He had wandered out for some intellectual stimulation but found himself surrounded by normalcy which accounted for idiocy in his mind. Such was the life of great Sherlock Holmes, the consulting detective, the machine, the man who seemingly knew everything about anyone from a single glance. Sherlock walked ahead, now retreating his face into his coat to bring some colour back to his cheeks.  
You walked out of the café, frustrated with your day so far. You had been looking for a flat to share for a while now. But luck didn’t seem to be on your side. You decided to take a little walk, hoping to stumble upon some flat or a potential flatmate. As you walked ahead, your phone gave out a ping and just as you were about to check it, you bumped into something hard yet warm. You realised that it was a man and were about to apologise when you met those striking eyes that you could drown in. They seemed cold, calculating and analysing but then further down the ocean you saw some satisfaction and a hint of hope if you dared to make such a deduction. You had always been good at those, deductions, not exceptionally brilliant but sufficient enough to guide you through life.  
Sherlock had been lonely for a while now, what with John being on his ‘honeymoon’ and there being a dearth of good cases in London recently. He was looking for a new flatmate to share his rent with. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it but having John had now accustomed him to a certain lifestyle. He now actually wanted someone in his life the way John had Mary. He hadn’t admitted that to himself. Yet. But he was willing to have a new friend.  
When he saw you, deductions flooded his mind at lightning pace- female recently relocated to London, still looking for a home, judging by the crumpled ads in your pocket and messed up hair, indicating that you had ran your hands through your hair many times which implied that you hadn’t yet found anything to your liking. He gave a small shake of his head and a faint smile and said, “No problem. Though you really should consider talking to your sister now.” He pointed to your phone. “Oh yeah.”, you muttered. It wasn’t really all sweet honey between you and her but aren’t all siblings like that? Constant cribbing and fighting yet loving them all the same. “Wait- how? How did-“ When you saw that smug look on his face, you said, “Nevermind. It’s all crystal clear.” His eyebrows shot up in surprise yet he said nothing. You typed back a reply to your sister and saw the tall man with ocean eyes still standing there. He stuck out his hand, “Sherlock Holmes, you may or may not have heard the name.” You shook his proffered hand, “Y/N L/N. And yes I have heard it a few times. I’m actually pleased to meet you.” You gave a small smile.  
“Would you mind some fish and chips?” He asked moving forward. You had to jog a little to get ahead to him and asked, “Chips?” “Yes chips, you’re having a bad day, you are allowed to have chips and I know a rather good place here.” “Sure.”, you smiled a bit. You saw a helicopter following you and noticed Sherlock looking at it too with a small smirk on his face. But he continued to walk and you decided to ignore it since he did too. You walked in silence for a while. Then out of curiosity you asked, “Don’t you have a case at the moment?” He saw the glint in your eyes. It wasn’t the glint of a mischievous criminal, rather of a person who studied criminals. “No, the city has had a lack of clever criminals. I don’t miss a thing like that when one comes my way.”, he replied. “So am I an interesting case Mr Holmes?” you asked with a bemused expression. “An interesting person, indeed but it’s too soon to say further.” You shook your head and giggled a bit. Your giggle felt like music to his ears. It was a sweet sound, something he wouldn’t mind to hear between his cases.  
You came to the place and he bought the chips. He denied you the opportunity to pay and you had to go along with it. “You sure won’t drug it , would you Mr Holmes?”, you asked with a certain playfulness. “No, not yet and call me Sherlock please. And also you would notice, you are quick Ms L/N.” “Wow thank you for the acknowledgement Sherlock and just Y/N please.” You took a seat and it started drizzling a bit. You sighed happily, feeling the soft pitter-patter of raindrops against your head. “So you were a criminal psychology student.”, he said as a matter of fact. “Yes, just graduated two years ago. Though how you did that is beyond my a abilities I’m afraid.” “A shot in the dark, but worked just fine.”, he said, pride filling him. It had been a long time since his instincts had over taken his mind.  
You talked for a while about the cases he had solved and criminals you had studied so far. It wasn’t much since you were new in London. But you had applied for a job in Scotland Yard and were expecting a positive response there at least.  
After you had finished, both of you walked along the road with him guiding the way. You walked in circles and strange turns until you realized what he had been doing. “Okay so seriously tell me. Did we just walk around to tell your elder brother to fuck off?! Through security cameras, by tracing our path?!” You asked incredulously.  
“Yes, wait how did you know it was my elder brother?” He looked at you with interest shining in his eyes.  
“Oh umm I uh okay let’s do this. So I noticed that something was following us and you did too. But you didn’t do anything about it because it would be either a common occurrence for you or just some part of your plan. But as you said you don’t have a case at the moment, you are just not bothered enough. This implies that you know who is behind this and then the small smile on your face because you knew what you were doing. You had this kind of sibling rivalry victory expression on your face. So it could either be a sister or a brother who works for a powerful organization, probably the government since it’s happening so openly. And if it was an elder sister you would simply have called and not insulted her like you did just now. So that leaves with an elder brother.”  
“You have some flaws there but yes most of it is I believe the correct way to deduce things.”  
“Well that’s as far as my mind goes and if it’s correct then it’s fine by me. Life is that way, complicated, you just need to go with the flow at times.”, you said. Strangely enough, he laughed and you would be lying if that didn’t warm your heart, it was contagious. “Do tell what’s so funny Holmes?” “Oh just the fact that I had been wondering about the tiring simplicity and monotonous nature of everyone’s life today and then you come and tell me that it’s complicated.”, he said amused by your view of life. “Well how would you know, my problems may be as big as yours, someone else’s life may just be as fast-paced or exhausting as yours. It all depends on how we perceive it.”  
Just as you finished the sentence, a gunshot rang out from behind you and you noticed that it just grazed the tree beside Sherlock. He pulled you inside an alley. “Okay, I admit. It’s not always that complicated.” You said as he left your wrist.  
He laughed silently at your remark. “No it isn’t. But it’s what I do.” He looked at you with a certain expectation, like he wanted you to know what you are getting involved in, what you are signing up for.  
“I don’t mind.” You smiled up at him and he knew that he had found what he was looking for.  
“Well it seems you have found a place to call home now Ms Y/N L/N.” He said as you got out at the other end of the alley.  
“TAXI! 221B Baker Street.” He rambled off the address to the driver as you sat with him. No you won’t mind, you certainly won’t mind the adventures that lay ahead of you with the detective sitting beside you and sure enough you saw him smiling too, his eyes crinkling at the corners.


	2. The British government

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter of Complicated series! I hope you like it ^_^ and if you would like to read more, I have posted further chapters on my blog @i-burnt-the-pages on Tumblr.

You hummed to yourself as you packed your belongings in boxes, segregating them according to the frequency of their usage. You didn’t have much to pack since you had been concerned with looking for a place to live the first thing. And finding a job, the second priority. The living part was taken care of. And the job would be confirmed in a few days too. You had been called for the interview at Scotland Yard tomorrow and you were pretty excited to be finally having a chance to pursue what you love. As you were packing, you realised that you were in need of some things and so you decided to go to the store. You decided to buy some food items as well since when you had seen Sherlock’s flat yesterday, and let’s just say that it had everything except for food, order and sanity.  
As you walked to the store, your mind went over the events of yesterday, after you had gone to 221B Baker Street. When you had reached there, you were met by the sweetest and most caring lady you had ever encountered in your life. Mrs. Hudson was truly a mother figure to Sherlock and she was funny too! You had always wanted a loving mother or grandmother to support you. You had lived your whole life with just your dad, your mother having passed away just after a year you were born. She supposedly died in an accident according to the people you knew but it was all so mysterious that no one really knew what happened. It was one of the first things that motivated you to delve deeper into the study of crimes and mysteries and soon you found yourself living the cases you read, filling up the words, the loopholes in theories. But you got your mind back on the track and thought about yesterday. It had gone something like this:

  
_You got down with Sherlock at the very door of the famous 221B Baker Street and were faced by the knocker, turned towards the right. You went ahead and straightened it, noticing the slight raise of Sherlock’s eyebrows. “I don’t have OCD, Sherlock but it doesn’t mean that I can’t straighten things up.”, you rolled your eyes at him. He gave a small nod and mumbled, “Sure enough.” He walked ahead to the narrow staircase, leading the way to the rooms. You walked behind him, tracing the railings and noticing the small cuts in the wood that creaked beneath your feet. “Seems like you had lot of adventures in this very staircase Mr Holmes.” Sherlock’s mind took him back to the time when it was just John and him. He shook his head, trying to drive the thoughts of losing a best friend away. Don’t feel so attached, he is just off for a bit, he reminded himself. You were a bit curious at his silence but continued nonetheless._  
_When you entered the room, the first thing you saw was the skull. And your eyes shone with happiness. “Oh my God is it a real skull?”, you asked like a child who had just discovered a jar full of candies. Sherlock gave an amused smile but hid it soon enough so that you wouldn’t notice it. “Don’t touch it. Yes it’s real but- but stay away for now.” Yes he found you interesting and yes he had offered you to stay with him but that didn’t mean that he considered you a friend, not yet at least. But if you were even half the person he saw in you, it wouldn’t be long before you would be the best among his best friends. “Fine. Fine. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” You looked around the room, letting your eyes drink in the organised mess that he had made for himself there. It felt like he belonged there, amidst the notes, the bullet holes, the faint smell of chemicals and cigarettes. He smoked recently you noted, a deviation from the nicotine patches that you saw under the table. His violin lay carefully against the corner of the room, with music notes stuffed in a half open drawer indicating that he had been playing and quite often judging by the polished violin and the bow._  
_ As you looked around, Sherlock stood by the window, occasionally stealing a glance of your thinking face. He saw a hint of satisfaction leading him to believe that you were making certain deductions and for the first time he felt self-conscious, trying to see his room through your eyes. It was messy but you hadn’t commented on it like John had the first time. It smelled of chemicals but that didn’t faze you. He noticed your gaze upon his violin and then flitting across the notes, strewn over the floor and drawer._  
_ He took his seat and motioned for you to sit across from him. “Isn’t that supposedly reserved for Doctor Watson?”, you asked. “Not necessarily.”, he replied briskly. You sat there without another word. “So Ms L/N what have you deduced about my place?” You gave a nervous laugh, insecurity filling you up. You were quick but that didn’t compare you to the greatest mind in London sitting in front of you. “Don’t hesitate. You might be wrong, you might be right. Though I observed that my smoking doesn’t sit well with you.”, he stated as a matter of fact. You were surprised that he had noticed since your face was usually very closed off. Your tone however was much more of a give away usually. “Don’t be surprised. Your face shows sufficient inflections for me to observe.”, he smirked. You cleared your throat and said, “Well it’s all out there I suppose. Yes, yes I do not like it when people smoke. It’s bad news for health.”, he rolled his eyes but you glared at him which stopped him. “It’s not always a sermon Mr Holmes. People have lost lives, I have personally seen and experienced the loss because of that very damned habit.” That shut him up. He had been more sensitised towards people’s emotions after having stayed with John for so long. He noticed the slight flare of anger and pain in your eyes. You were quick to recover and this sudden surge of anger had given you confidence to say what you observed. “You want to know what I observe? Fine. Have it then. You live in a mess, evidently, not because you can’t arrange it, but because you don’t want to. It comforts you to have things in places where only you know and no one else sees. You smoked recently obviously, not going for the nicotine patches that you usually use. Why the deviation? Obviously you needed something stronger, something to calm your racing mind, flitting from case to case, topic to topic. And you have been playing very recently, and frequently might I add. The bow and violin have been polished recently which can only be if you have to play it for quite some time and when you have time to polish it.” He had retained an expressionless face all throughout your little speech and presently leaned forward, steepling his fingers under his chin. “Interesting.”, he muttered. Now that the anger had worn off you felt self-conscious. What ifs ran through your mind but soon you were interrupted by his low baritone, “You choose to focus on smaller and bigger things alike but still miss quite elementary things. Though your observations, if I might say so, are mostly correct.”_  
_ “Now if you don’t mind I would like to ask some questions of mine. Since I have to return the favor that you bestowed upon me. Why did you leave him?” Your gaze which had diverted to the soft drizzle outside snapped to him almost instantly. You surprised yourself with the reaction too. Never in a million years would you have thought that he would bring up such a topic as the point of discussion let alone deduced your past so quick. “I- I –“, you began to speak but were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Woo-hoo!”, an old lady with a pleasant smile stood there, confused by your presence. You gave a relieved sigh not really wanting to discuss such a matter with him at so raw a time. Sherlock noticed and mentally noted to drop the topic for now. “Have you finally got a client Sherlock?”, the old lady smiled sympathetically at you, thinking that you were some relation of a victim. “No Mrs Hudson, this is Y/N L/N, my new flatmate and Ms L/N, meet your landlady Mrs Hudson.” He stood up and went to stand by the window again. You looked at the lady, and smiled at her, standing up and walking towards her. “Hello, Mrs Hudson. I hope I won’t be a problem here.”, you said. “Oh dear, definitely not. If Sherlock has approved then my word rarely matters since he is the one who is choosy, not me. You can have the room John had. Or would you two be sharing a room?” She motioned between you two with a wink. You blushed and laughed at her reference, “No, of course not. So I would pay the rent to you tomorrow if that’s okay?” “Oh yes, yes. No problem dear and you can have your stuff here by tomorrow too. If you need any help, I’m here but remember I’m your landlady, not your housekeeper.”, she said sternly or at least tried to. You nodded and smiled at her._  
_ “I’ll be off now. I need to pack my stuff.”, you said to Sherlock. Sherlock broke from his trance and said, “Of course, see you tomorrow Y/N.” Hearing him speak your name thrilled you, and set something akin to butterflies in your stomach. You bid goodbye to Mrs Hudson and went your way._

  
Presently you picked up the desired items, filling up the trolley and purchasing only the necessities since you had to pay the rent too. Soon you were out of the store and onto your way to Baker Street when a black car pulled up in front of you. You raised your eyebrows at the man who got out and stood there with a smile plastered on his face, twirling an umbrella in his hand. “Glad to meet you Ms L/N. Please get in the car for we have some things to discuss, I believe.” You looked at him and then down at your full hands. He got the hint and said, “Oh leave them here, they would be taken to Baker Street.” You weren’t the one to get in with strangers into cars, but you didn’t see how harmful sitting with someone who belonged to the government could be since you weren’t a criminal. You got in and on the way stumbled into him. You grabbed his coat and he straightened you up. “Sorry.”, you mumbled, embarrassed and he just gave a small nod in the direction of car. You got in and he did after you. “So, we have discovered that you have come into contact with Sherlock Holmes. A sudden appearance might I add. Could it be that you have chosen to trust a man after your past Ms L/N?” You swallowed the lump in your throat and replied, “I just happened to be looking for an accommodation which he very generously provided. There’s nothing more to it.” “Ah, I see.”, he said. “And I’m certainly not a threat to your brother Mr Holmes.”, you assured him. His eyebrows shot up in surprise but then he touched his coat pocket and realisation dawned on him. “I know you are anything but a threat. Now if you would kindly return the ID that you very deftly pick-pocketed from me Miss.” You smiled sheepishly at him and handed him his ID which you had taken when you stumbled into him. You didn’t do that without a purpose. You had your theory, but needed proof and there you found it. Mycroft Holmes. The man sitting with you.  
You had reached Baker Street and you looked out to see Sherlock standing there at the steps. Mycroft got out. “Must greet my brother dear at the very least.”, he said and you followed suit. “Trifling yourself with my personal life again I see Mycroft.”, Sherlock said. “Merely checking brother dear.” You sensed the tension between them and decided to break it. “Okay ladies, loosen up.” They looked at you and then went inside without a word. As you passed inside you saw two packs of cigarettes in the bin next to the door. You smiled a bit.  
“A goldfish?”, Mycroft asked Sherlock once they were inside and out of your hearing range. “Stop seeing my every step as a calculated move Mycroft, it’s none of your business.” Mycroft shrugged as you walked inside. “Well I’ll be taking my leave then.”, he said and gave a small smile in your direction. “Though you picked a brighter one this time Sherlock.”, he said giving you a look. He stepped out of the room. Sherlock turned to you. “What did you do to him?” “Pick- pocketed him?”, you said more like a question. He laughed and boy were you enamored. “You dropped the cigarettes in the bin I see.”, you said to him. He turned his face around and looked anywhere but at you. “Well it was an inconvenience to you wasn’t it? And since we have decided to share, there must be some compromises on our part. I would expect nothing less from you.” “Me neither.”, you said.  
Mycroft who had not yet left heard your exchange and thought to himself- She might be what Sherlock needed all along. He shook his head and headed downstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore or point out the typo errors if any.


End file.
